Horse racing trainer rides zebra to Dorset pub

A former jump jockey and horse racing trainer, Bill Turner, rides a zebra
called Zebedee to his local pub in Sherborne, Dorset.

Bill Turner learned to ride Zebedee in just two weeks. Photo: BNPS

8:25AM BST 04 Jun 2009

Bill Turner, 61, bought Zebedee from a game reserve in Holland for £4,500 and learned to ride the animal in just two weeks.

Zebras are much less co-operative and more difficult to ride than horses, owing to their unpredictable nature and tendency to panic under stress.

Now Mr Turner rides Zebedee to his local, the King's Arms, for a pint after work.

"I have broken hundreds of horses over the years, and always wanted to try my hand with a zebra, but they are very hard to get hold of," he told the Racing Post.

"I approached Longleat a few years ago and we were going to get one of them when a mate of mine was supplying some of the meat for the lions but, unfortunately, that fell through.

"They say zebras are so hard to break because they haven't got any brains and they do panic very easily, but I approached him as if he were a horse.

"He had never been touched, and at first was coming at me with his front feet and biting, but I purposely never hit him and tried to treat him with complete and utter kindness. At the moment it is working."

Mr Turner, whose training career stretches back 30 years, has already found a buyer for Zebedee but plans to keep him for around a year to ensure he is absolutely safe to pass on.